Ruturaj Gaikwad shatters Virat Kohli's magnificent IPL record with fourth-straight half-century vs GT in IPL Qualifier 1

Ruturaj Gaikwad led Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) charge in the IPL 2023 play-offs against defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Chepauk Stadium on Tuesday evening. Gaikwad hammered 60 off 44 balls, which featured seven fours and a maximum, after Gujarat won the toss and invited CSK to bat first. Apart from Gill, no other batters from his side could reach the 50-run mark as CSK settled at 172/7 in 20 overs.

Meanwhile, Gaikwad's effort also saw him shatter Virat Kohli's record against Gujarat. The CSK opener now has 278 runs in four innings against the defending champions, while Kohli has 232 runs from three innings.

In fact, this was the fourth time CSK are playing against Gujarat and Gaikwad has smashed half-centuries in all of them. Gaikwad had scored 92 off 50 balls in this year's season opener, which Gujarat won by five wickets.

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Gaikwad had smashed 73(48), and 53(49) the two times CSK met GT in the previous edition. However, both the knocks had gone in vain and CSK would be hoping to open their account against Gujarat tonight (Tuesday).

Coming back to the clash, Conway and Gaikwad gave CSK a decent start on a spin friendly Chepauk track. The pair added 87 runs for the opening wicket, before Mohit Sharma provided Gujarat with the first breakthrough in the form of Gaikwad. Conway scored 40 off 34 balls, which featured four boundaries.

If we look at the GT bowlers, Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma scalped two wickets each, while Darshan Nalkande, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad picked one wicket each.

Gujarat in response got off to a slow start and lost Wriddhiman Saha and skipper Hardik Pandya cheaply. Shubman Gill, who is heading into the contest on the back of consecutive tons, remains firm in the middle and is joined by Dasun Shanaka in the run chase.